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Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s a light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting He passed, and we follow Him there; Over us sin no more hath dominion— For more than conquerors we are! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well: Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

Words and Music by Helen H. Lemmuel, 1922

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame,and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1 – 2

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28 – 30

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5

For, “ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.” And this is the word which was preached to you.
1 Peter 1:24 – 25

I always hate showing up to the movie theater after things have started. First, because it means I missed the previews, and sometimes those are the best part of the movie. Of course, when this is the case, I feel like I wasted my money on the movie.

The other reason is trying to find somewhere to sit. This problem doesn’t necessarily have to do with how full the theater is, but trying to see in the darkness. I’m sure you know what I am talking about. You come in from the lights of the hallway, and can’t see anything in the room. You then have to stand there a couple of minutes while your eyes adjust and you can see where there are seats available.

The longer you remain in the room, your eyes continue to adjust until you can see around the room without any problems. But if you step back into the hallway your eyes focus on the light and again everything else fades into darkness. This is the image that Helen Lemmuel draws upon in her hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”

Lemmuel writes, “O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see?” The words draw our minds to Jesus words in Matthew 11:28 where He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

“All you who are weary and burdened”. If we are completely honest, we have to admit, that anyone who has spent time in the world, is weary and worn down.

But there is hope in this weary world. The hymn goes on, “There’s a light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free!” When we turn our eyes on Christ there is hope that can free us from the weariness of this world. This is why John writes, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)

And thank God that He has not abandoned to be on our own. Yes, He has given us a light in the darkness. And the light is found in his Word, which is a lamp for our feet. (Psalm 119:105)

We can then rest in the truth that “His Word shall not fail you—He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well.” As 1 Peter 1:25 has told us, “But the Word of the Lord endures forever.”

Yes, as weary as we are, as alone as we may feel, there is hope in the darkness that surrounds us. So when we turn our eyes on Jesus and “look full in His wonderful face,” then we will see that “the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.”